Well of Souls

Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published Oct. 4, 2022 by W. W. Norton & Company.

ISBN:
9780393866803

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (1 review)

3 editions

juxtaposes conditions of slavery to music and dance's jubilee

3 stars

A curious history through dramatizing a series of primary sources in paintings, dioramas, and travelogues depicting the banjo at a uniquely African-Caribbean intersection of slavery, music, worship and celebration, and adaptation. As some of the threads are light echoes, I wish there was a bit more sense of engaging with other supporting or supplanted accounts of the instrument's background.